I was really torn with this one, whether to give it a 3.5 or a 4-star rating. This was a really enjoyable read about women in a barely disguised 16th century England who are made to eat the sins of the dying so they can be freed. It's heavily influenced by history, with characters resembling historical figures (Maris as Mary I, Bethany as Elizabeth I, Harold as Henry VIII, Katryna as Catherine Parr.) One niggling thing is the amount of mistimed and unnecessary giggling being choked back. I got pretty annoyed by that sentence cropping up every ten pages! There was a section in the middle that got a little repetitive and the ending requires a little brainpower to figure out. On the whole, really interesting if you're into character-driven mysteries, witchcraft, and/or historical fiction with a hint of realism.

Set in a fantastical quasi-Elizabethan age heavy with religious unrest, and immersed in superstition and misogyny. May, a 14 year old illiterate orphan guilty of the crime of stealing a loaf of bread, is sentenced to the punishment of serving as sin eater to the town.

The sin eater’s life is a solitary one, shunned by society for fear of curse, May’s new role is to serve the dying by hearing their confession and consuming foods attributed to each sin, thereby receiving upon herself those sins forever. She wears the heavy collar and brand on her tongue, cannot speak unless to the dying and forced to live amongst the other outcasts of society.

‘The Unseen is now seen. The Unheard is now heard. The sins of your flesh become the sins of mine to be borne to my grave in silence. Speak’

Death does not distinguish between wealth or class, and May is called upon to hear confessions of not only the poor, but also those living in the castle where she soon discoverers something is amiss when foods associated with sins not confessed appear on the coffins of the deceased. As sin eater, May has access where most others do not, and in in her search for the truth, she uncovers a web of lies, deceit and ultimately treason. However her outcast status denies her speech or contact with others, May alone must unravel the lies and thwart further treachery.

This is the story of May and her life and unique role in society, rather than a tale of intrigue or mystery. For most of the book May cannot communicate with others, so we see the story through not only her eyes but also her unspoken thoughts which are peppered with archaic words. I was glad to reading on Kindle so as to find quick definitions for some of these, however the language is entirely appropriate and fosters a certain reality in this fanastical setting. Although the story through the middle sections appears at times to repeat, I feel that this serves as a reminder of May’s role; death was constant, as was the fear of death at times such as childbirth, and she had little respite from demand for her services.

I enjoyed this novel, it combined the right balance of ‘history’, intrigue and with some twists and turns, makes for a satisfying read. Many thanks to Net Galley, Atria Books and Megan Campisi for allowing me to read and review this book.

I am giving this book three stars for the promise of what seems like a wonderfully fascinating book, however due to the early, seemingly unedited copy that I received, I was unable to read or follow it properly. I will almost certainly obtain a copy once it has been published and edit my review upon reading as I have greatly anticipated this title.

I couldn't get into this book, however much I tried. The premise was certainly interesting but I found the build-up to be lacking.

The Sin Eater is delicious. Yum yum in my tum. It is the story of May Owens, set in a tweaked Elizabethan England where the virgin queen Bethany (who is and absolute monster) is on the throne and there’s all sorts of devious going’s in at court. May, an approximately fourteen year old orphan, is arrested for stealing some bread (shout out for Les Mis) and due to a vindictive bureaucrat (for reasons that become clear later) sentences May to become the sin eater. These women, who are not allowed to speak or be acknowledged in any way less they taunt you with their sin, visit the dying who confess their sins the appropriate food is allocated to each sin and when the person dies the sin eater eats the food and takes on the sin themselves so that the death may go on to paradise. A pretty raw deal. Through the confessions May stumbles upon a murderess plot at court that threatens the queen herself and determines to find the answers.
Told in first person the reader scrambles for bits of information about the mystery but also about May herself. She is never clearly defined and this is perhaps because she doesn’t know who she is either. She try’s to be like her good father, she tries to be like her cunning mother and finds neither are right for her. As she investigates the happens at court more through accident than by design she begins to come of age.
The language of the book suits the period it is set in being both lush and grotesque like the Sin Eater themselves. There is an overuse of the word mayhap (I hate the word mayhap! Stop using it!) and a few americanisms creep in I can let it slide since it’s alt-history. Also ‘fug’ Is used both as a curse word and how it’s normally used which was weird.
There are a few loose ends as the book comes to a close and I would be more than happy to read about May’s further adventures as a sin eater.

Sin Eating really existed (amazingly until the early 20th century), and is perhaps a contender for the worst job in the world. Sin Eaters would eat a symbolic piece of bread at the side of the recently departed and were believed to literally take on the sins the deceased had committed in life. In the vivid world created by Megan Campisi this career takes on a new level of horror and complexity. In the realm of Queen Bethany of Angland Sin Eaters are branded and chained like slaves, forever shunned by all round them. Here they are feared and hated even by family and friends, cruelly denied all the consolations of human kindness.

May Owens is an orphaned teenager, she works hard but is still driven by hunger to steal a loaf of bread. For this gargantuan crime (and due to her tainted family background) she is condemned to become the new Sin Eater, a fate worse than hanging. Through her horrified eyes we discover what this new job entails, we trudge alongside her through filth-stained streets and into rich mens’ parlours. May is a bright girl who always noticed things that others missed; one day she notices something of great consequence which leads her on a perilous journey.

This is a great book; it’s not just up my street it’s standing on my doorstep and ringing the bell. This novel blends dark world-building with an alternative historical universe (a variant on Tudor-era London). It’s beautifully written, well fleshed out and evenly paced. I will definitely be looking out for this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publishers for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I loved the idea of this book. My copy was however badly edited. The story itself was repetitive but still interesting.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Sadly due to the numerous typographical and formatting errors contained within this ARC, it has not been possible for me to give a proper review as I would like. The book has such promise and I hope it is as good as the blurb. I will possibly try to read it at publication stage.

This is a dark and sinister story that grips you from the start. The twists and turns of fate for May, the young girl who finds herself at the centre of some pretty unsavoury stories, are horrific and endearing as she repeatedly twists and turns to keep herself sane and also alive.

The idea of a sin-eater is a fascinating one, of someone forced to take on others' sins before they die, and the opportunities to weave stories around this are many. Megan Campesi does this with skill and style, with a readable book that has well-drawn sympathetic characters and a satisfying resolution.

I received this ARC for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much to NetGalley, Megan Campisi, Mantle and Pan Macmillan for accepting my request to review!

In The Sin Eater by Megan Campisi we follow the life of May Owens in sixteenth century England. After her parents death she is left to fend for herself. One day she is caught stealing a loaf of bread and sentenced to become a sin eater. Cursed to forever eat the sins of those on their deathbed, everyone scared of her touch and forbidden to speak outside of her duties. She gets swept up in a conspiracy in the Queen's court and is the only one who can investigate what is really happening.

Sin eating is a ritual based on what existed in England until roughly a century ago. A sin eater was a person who consumed a ritual meal in order to spiritually take on the sins of a deceased person. The food was believed to absorb the sins and absolve the soul of a person. This book really inspired me to research and learn even more about this strange custom as the only time I had ever heard of a sin eater was during an episode of Lucifer and it was so interesting. I found that there have been many instances of sin eaters throughout history and religion. I wish this was taught in our history classes!

May was a really fun character to read - she's talkative, smart and it's sad to see all of this taken away from her as she becomes a sin eater. Throughout the book I kept forgetting just how young she was, her whole childhood was stolen from her. Before being sentenced, she was always worried about being a 'good girl' and doing what she was told, it was great to see her eventually reject the antiquated gender roles that were forced on her and decide to do whatever she wants. If she's going to be carrying everybody else's sins she may as well add some of her own. It's ironic that her prison has allowed her to be able to relish in a newfound sense of freedom. Plus, a great bonus to now being a social pariah means that it is easier for her to sneak about unnoticed.

I really enjoyed the parallels with English history all throughout the book. The references to King Henry VIII and the struggles between Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots were all really well done as well as the war between Catholics and Protestants. This was a really fascinating time in England and mixed with the fiction from this book it made a terrific read!

The Sin Eater was a really entertaining and clever story and I loved reading every minute of it!

This is a really engaging and interesting read from beginning to end.

I was attracted to the book because I read The Familiar by Stacey Halls last year and this seemed to be of a similar bent. It is and it isn't. Whereas the former is very much set in the real world, The Sin Eater happens in a world very like our own but with small differences. There is talk of the former Queen Maris and the present Queen Bethany who are clearly Mary I and Elizabeth I but these small differences make the world we enter slightly otherworldly, it's quite beautiful and helps adds depth and interest. Are we in Britain or a dark fantasy world? The choice is ours.

Our sin-eater is May, a fourteen-year-old orphan who is arrested for stealing some food and her sentence is to be made a sin-eater. She is fitted with a collar, her tongue is branded with the letter "S" and she is sent to live with an old sin-eater who won't talk to her. May has always been a talkative and inquisitive girl and now she has to enter a world of silence. She cannot talk to anyone except when asking the sins of the dying and telling them that she takes them on as her own. She is also an outcast. No one wants to look at sin-eaters because they are bad luck. The only time a sin-eater is welcome is when she is performing her sin-eating duty.

Very early on May and the old sin-eater are at a sin eating when a deer's heart is on the coffin of the dead woman. The old sin-eater refuses to eat it because the sin it represents was not given to her by the dead woman. Because she refuses she is arrested and tortured to death. May eats the deer heart because if she doesn't she will be tortured too but she wants to know who put the deer heart there and why. She wants to avenge the death of the old sin-eater.

And that's where I'll leave the plot because I really don't want to give anything away and the way we get to the answers, the people we meet along the way ... it's just wonderful and you will find yourself (I hope!) engrossed. The plot is captivating and the writing is beautiful. I will be looking at more from Megan Campisi because she is definitely worth following.

The copy I received was I am afraid virtually unreadable. Mild dyslexia makes it hard for me to follow when there are a lot of typos. What I did read I enjoyed, but not enought to persevere through a bad ARC. Sorry.

I really enjoyed the narrative of this book and the subtle yet beautiful prose. The way she used her freedom was very moving as well as her strength and resolve. Just my kind of historical novel!

The Sin Eater - Megan Campisi

Set in the 16th century a young girl of 14 years old is punished for a small crime she committed.  Where others from her jail cell are sentenced to be tortured or hanged, May is given the worst punishment of them all, to be cast as a Sin Eater. 

May's whole life has fell apart.  She has lost both her Mother and Father and now she is banished from the only home she has ever known.  Things just go from bad to worse when the townsfolk no longer make her welcome, as being a Sin Eater comes with fear and dread from those around.  A Sin Eater must be unseen and unheard until by the deathbed of a sinner where they can then recite and devour their sins.

Although the facts aren't exactly accurate as to what a Sin Eater would eat and what sin it represents (the general being just bread and this being placed on the deceased chest) this makes the novel a whole lot more of an interesting read.
This is a remarkably fascinating journey of a frightened young girl and the ordeals she must now endure, to becoming a strong heroine.

But this journey just keeps getting better as May is also given insight in to the medieval royal going-ons. Chuck in a royal scandal and a murder or two and voilla, you also have your classic 'Who Dunnit?'

I enjoyed how Megan Campisi portrayed May.  You got a really good idea of how life would be walking in her shoes,  what she was going through, how she was feeling and how she dealt with certain situations.  What genuinely made me fall in love with this book is how Megan writes seamlessly. I adored how she also names the characters as May sees them, with the likes of Country Mouse and Black Fingers and in my mind you could just envision these characters as real people.
This is definitely one of my favourite reads of 2020 so far, and It completely engrossed me from beginning to end.

Thankyou to Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this fantastic book in exchange for an honest review.

The Sin Eater is historical fiction with a fantastic premise and an intriguing central mystery. The protagonist, May, has a strong voice, and I found her teenage moodswings believeable and endearing - it made her experience as a sin eater feel far more real. The prose is eloquent, distinctive without being overly poetic.

The murder mystery element should have made for a gripping plot, but I found this was sometimes undermined by weaknesses in the structure. The storytelling is quite repetitive, and at times it lacked the forward momentum you really need for a detective story. Some of the important reveals were harried and lost emotional impact. In places, the prose needed to be pared back a little to let the story shine.

The Sin Eater feels like a debut novel, but one with plenty of promise.

Well written, historical fiction with a touch of magic

This book is dark and keeps you reading from page one

Touches the real history behind the sin eaters as well

Characters are strong and believable,

A truly fantastic read

Imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread, May is unexpectedly set free. It is not any sort of freedom, however, she is now a sin eater and must eat the foods on the coffins of others to take their sins upon herself. When food start appearing on coffins without being listed, the sin eater must learn who is putting them there and what crimes they are trying to hide.

I must confess that I found the first chapter of this book really hard going and thought I probably wouldn't enjoy it. I am not ashamed to admit that I was completely wrong though and by the end I was very disappointed to see it finish.

I had never heard of a sin eater before but what a fantastic concept so richly brought to life by Megan Campbell. What a fascinating way to live and what a cleverly put together novel this is - the characterisation of the sin eater herself is just wonderful but the supporting characters really help the place the novel and to put yourself into that place.

As you can probably see, I really loved this novel and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction with a twist. What a treat you have in store!

A great historical fiction read.

The characters are all not based on real people but could be considered similar to Tudor England.

Through unfortunate events May finds herself sentenced to become a Sin Eater. She takes the sins of the dying to allow them to go to their Maker (in heaven). She finds herself repeatedly serving the royals in the castle however the eatings become spoiled and a mystery ensues.

The Sin Eater is a good read filled with court gossip and murder. If you enjoy reading about Tudor court you'll enjoy this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Despite the fact it contained well-used elements of historical mystery (not a bad thing, they are popular for a reason) The Sin Eater's alternate England and its cast of well-known and thinly-veiled (but cleverly so) characters felt very original. Megan Campisi's own characters -those not based on historical figures- never felt contrived and fitted authentically within the world.
I loved learning which foods were consumed for which sins (there's a strange decadence to the actual sin-eating, or maybe I'm just weird) and the unique twist on names, speech, religious and cultural practices gave everything it's own atmosphere whilst still being grounded in the familiar.
I did have an inkling as to the answer to the mystery early on, which was probably because I'm familiar with the symbolism and imagery used, not because too much was revealed too soon. There were a few surprises later on which worked well also.
The pace and length were perfect for this type of story, and I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in books set in the Elizabethan period and/or historical mystery readers that would like to read something a bit different. To me, The Sin Eater had it's own 'feel', which is something I always look for in the books I read, and quite rare for a historical type novel.
I will certainly be watching out for the next book by this author!
Thank you very much to Netgalley and Megan Campisi for the ARC of this intriguing debut novel!

Do you want to give your sins away to another before death so that you will go to the maker........ this is a book about folklore and superstition, it tells of how a sin eater would take your sins and eat foods that are relevant to the sin and then you will go to your maker cleansed of them and the sin eater takes them on ....

Although this may sound strange it is a true identity and sin eaters were called on when somebody was passing ..
and as much as they were required they were also feared and shunned, but because of this they were left alone
The book centers around the sin eater and a mystery that unfolds itself as she is called to different people before death...... How she became a sin eater is for you to read and find out, but a good read it is .....

If you like the Binding then you will love this..... five stars for me and how it opened my eyes to what took place years ago .....